Postal Exhibition booklet

The Crystal Consultation on the change of building use In summer 2020, the Mayor of , Sadiq Khan, began the process of consulting GLA staff on plans for the (GLA) to leave the current City Hall building next year and move its headquarters to The Crystal building in the .

In this newsletter, you can find out more about the plans, what this will mean for the local community and how you can share your views on the change of The Crystal’s building use.

Please complete the feedback form in this booklet by 15 October to let us know your views. Introduction Will there be building works on site? In summer 2020, the , Sadiq Khan, consulted the The Crystal is a highly sustainable and well-designed building. Should , GLA staff and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and City Hall relocate, we will need to carry out some minor alterations to the Crime (MOPAC) staff on plans for the GLA to leave the current City Hall building to meet the needs of our functions. For example, this may involve building next year and move its headquarters to The Crystal building reconfiguring the internal space to create offices and meeting rooms in the Royal Docks (Siemens Brothers Way, , and to accommodate the Assembly’s chamber. Some small external London, E16 1GB). alterations will also be made, such as creating a new covered entrance and installing new signage and flags. The move to The Crystal, a building owned by the GLA, would result in significant savings, enabling the GLA to safeguard frontline services for Upon completion of these alterations, The Crystal will be able to Londoners. accommodate up to 500 staff.

Why The Crystal? What will the change of building use The Crystal was opened in 2012 and was commissioned by Siemens as mean for the local community? The Crystal an exemplar building of sustainable design. In 2016, the building was City Hall sold to the GLA. The GLA’s Royal Docks team is located at The Crystal, Public access but the building has been almost empty since Siemens moved out of the In addition to The City Hall building serving as a home to our staff and building last year. the London Assembly, our headquarters also functions as a welcoming The GLA will make savings on both rental and operational costs if City community and event facility for our neighbours and all Londoners. Hall is to be relocated to The Crystal. The eco-friendly building’s high All these uses will form an integral part of the Royal Docks energy efficiency will mean further savings on running costs. neighbourhood if the relocation goes ahead. The move will mean that The Crystal is a viable location for the City Hall relocation because Newham residents will be able to enjoy the iconic building which was of its well-rounded existing transport infrastructure as well as the previously used only for private events. forthcoming introduction of Crossrail to . We anticipate that As with the current City Hall building, a number of meeting rooms will be accommodating City Hall in The Crystal will also support and further Like other local and regional authorities across the country, the GLA is available to the public for use, and Committee Rooms will be available for boost the ongoing regeneration of the Royal Docks. facing financial challenges due to the loss of business rates and council hire when not being used by the GLA. About the Royal Docks tax income as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. Therefore, it is even more The Royal Docks was once the largest enclosed docks in the world and a important for us to prioritise our spending on crucial front-line services Regeneration of the Royal Docks centre of global trade – today the area is being transformed into a world- rather than internal running costs. class cultural, business and residential quarter. The Greater London Authority (GLA) The change of use will create jobs in the local area and bring spending To enable the potential relocation, we are looking to submit a and investment for local businesses. The move will be an important step The Royal Docks is one of the most significant regeneration projects in planning application to Newham Council to formally change the The GLA is a strategic authority to help further accelerate the regeneration of the Royal Docks. the UK. The Royal Docks’ Enterprise Zone (EZ), created to accelerate building use. with a London-wide role to design the regeneration of the area, has recently established an Economic a better future for the capital. Our As part of the Royal Docks Delivery Plan, the GLA is already contributing Purpose for the Royal Docks, which sets the aspiration for the area to When The Crystal was originally built, the use of the building was limited work impacts many aspects of the to a range of improvements to the local area, from which The Crystal be a globally significant hub for enterprise and culture and a home for by planning regulations to holding exhibitions and conferences. The day-to-day lives of all Londoners, would benefit. These include DLR capacity improvements, cycling innovation. current planning application will allow us to change the permitted use to including transport, policing, improvement works to Road and various improvements accommodate regional government and civic functions. education and housing. to the public realm across the Royal Docks. For more information on the Royal Docks, visit www.royaldocks.london Next steps We are looking to submit a planning application to Newham Council in October and we will continue to engage with local residents throughout the planning process. If planning permission is granted and we have further progressed on the decision to move, minor alternations could begin in early 2021. If the relocation goes ahead, the essential building works are expected to complete in late 2021, with the City Hall relocating after that.

Let us know your view To provide feedback on the proposed change of use of The Crystal Consultation Consultation Process building, please fill in the attached questionnaire. Ahead of a formal decision by the Mayor of London, we would like to In light of the current restrictions on social gatherings, we have taken the hear from the local community to understand your views on changing decision to conduct the consultation remotely. As an alternative to face- Please tear off and return the freepost feedback form overleaf the building use of The Crystal. We are particularly keen to hear what to-face consultation events, we will be gathering feedback online, via by 15 October 2020. You can also submit your feedback on our Newham residents think about the use of The Crystal being changed to phone calls, virtual meetings and the postal survey. website at thecrystalconsultation.org.uk accommodate a civic building such as City Hall. The current planning application to change the building use and consultation with local people will allow us to establish the feasibility and principles of the relocation.

If you live, work or volunteer near The Crystal or in Newham, please let us know you views by completing a survey in this booklet or Get in touch submit your comment online at We are keen to speak to as many people as possible throughout this thecrystalconsultation.org.uk consultation process. If you have any questions on the consultation, or Meetings Online and Analyse and Planning would like to request more information, please do not hesitate to get in with local postal public respond to application touch via the contact details below. stakeholders exhibition feedback submission The planning application Please visit our dedicated consultation website to find out more about the plans and how you can share your views. To enable the potential relocation, we are looking to submit a planning application to Newham Council to formally change the building use. When The Crystal was originally built, the use of the building was limited Statutory Consultation Website by planning regulations to holding exhibitions and conferences. As The Crystal is located in Newham, Newham Council is the local thecrystalconsultation.org.uk The planning application we are consulting on will involve the change of planning authority responsible for making any planning decisions. After ‘Use Class’. In planning terms, the Use Class determines the lawful use our planning application is submitted and before a decision is made by Email of a building or land. The move will require us to apply for the change the Planning Committee, the Council will review the application through a from the limited D1 use (conference and exhibition centre) to statutory consultation process with nearby residents and statutory bodies. [email protected] ‘Sui Generis’ use (‘of its own kind’) which would include government use Phone and civic functions. 020 3900 3676 6 ) Please let us know if you have any other comments. Feedback form Name Postcode

Address

Email

1 ) I am a... Local resident Worker Other Please specify

2 ) In principle, do you welcome the change of The Crystal’s building use to support civic and community functions? Strongly agree Agree Neutral

Disagree Strongly disagree

3 ) Do you think that the change of The Crystal’s building use will support the wider regeneration of the Royal Docks?

Strongly agree Agree Neutral

Disagree Strongly disagree

4 ) Do you agree that the change of The Crystal’s building use will offer benefits to the local community? Keeping you updated | All information you give us will be treated Strongly agree Agree Neutral confidentially and only used in connection with the project. If you prefer not to receive any updates via email or post, please tick this box. Disagree Strongly disagree

5 ) Further details of The Crystal’s change of use will be shared as the plans progress. As a local resident, which of the following FDTDTFDDDDAAAFDFFDDFTAFADTAATDTTATFT are you most interested in learning more about? Freepost Plus RUAE–BZXR–EELX Internal building alterations External appearance KAN0212 1st Floor Public access Building operation 44-48 Paul Street London Others Please specify EC2A 4LB FDTDTFDDDDAAAFDFFDDFTAFADTAATDTTATFT Freepost Plus RUAE–BZXR–EELX KAN0212 1st Floor 44-48 Paul Street London EC2A 4LB